Friday
August 22, 2014

Life on Life's Terms

Imaginary trains
     I was lying in bed, my eyes shut, my head moving slightly from side to side.  My wife walked into the room.
    "Your head is swaying," she said.  "Why is your head swaying?"
    "You'll laugh," I said.
    "Probably, but tell me any way."
    "When I can't sleep, I pretend I'm on a troop train coming back from the trenches at the end of World War I.  I've survived the war, and I'm going home.  My head is swaying with the movement of the train.  I imagine the celebrations have died down and the train is quiet.  We are headed for the coast to catch a ship bound for New York.  I picture you and the kids waiting for me at the dock in New York.  You're stunningly beautiful in your long dress, the kids are smiling and laughing. My heart aches to see you all again."      I waited for her to laugh.  She didn't. I added, "Imagining I'm on that train chases away whatever thoughts are keeping me up."
    "I love your imagination and I love you," she said.

Today I will put my imagination to good use.

Life on Life's Terms (c) 2014 by Ken Montrose

Upcoming

Burnout: Clinical, Ethical, & Supervisory Issues
September 12, 2014 at Greenbriar-New Kensington
9:30 a.m. to 12:45 p.m
$30 payable in advance, at the door, or by invoice after the training

This three hour training is accredited for:

• Addiction Counselors by the Pa. Certification Board
• CRCs  by the Commission on Rehabilitation Counselor Certification # 11938191652 and 11938191653 (one hour Ethics portion)
• Counselors by NAADAC #477 and NBCC #6352
• EAPs by the Employee Assistance Certification Commission
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Other Blogs

AArdvarks, a daily messages blog about a group of young people in recovery can be found at: https://www.goodreads.com/author_blog_posts/6860899-insanity.

Smart Bears, Angry Rats

Pushed, a little

 When I was done writing for the day, I went upstairs to my daughter's room.  A pair of dark eyes peered at me from under a crumpled blanket at the foot of the bed.  I hoped they belonged to the dog.  I pushed a pile of clothes out of my way with my foot.

"Dad!" my daughter yelped, "You knocked the clean pile into the dirty pile!"

"Sorry. I wanted to thank you for pushing me to write this story.  Writing encouraging things about a dark future has been a real challenge, but I like how it makes me think about what might be.  I'm more in touch with my responsibility to future generations."

"Happy to help, Daddy."

"How about you accept a challenge?  How about you clean this room?"

"Tsk, tsk.  Poor delusional Daddy.  It's only a challenge if it's possible.  Attempting the impossible, like pushing over a building with your bare hands or cleaning this room, just sets you up for failure.  I know you love me too much to want me to fail. Think what it would do to my self-esteem.  Trying to clean this room might set me on a path that ends with me living in the basement with my unemployed, ex-con husband."

"I'll take that chance," I said.  "Clean your room."

Today I will accept a challenge.  I'll do something a little difficult.

Smart Bears, Angry Rats (c) 2014 by Ken Montrose